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Phantom of the Opera
	Topic by: Cosplayer Posted: August 18, 2005 - 4:09 PM PDT Last Reply: August 21, 2005 - 7:44 PM PDT

author	topic: Phantom of the Opera
Cosplayer	post #1  on August 18, 2005 - 4:09 PM PDT   yeah...kinda obsessed, I know. Anyway, I read the book and they were talking about all the different movie versions. There was a silent one where the whole audience fainted when they saw his face and one where he's a vampire and all sorts of crazy things. Seen um?
IronS	post #2  on August 18, 2005 - 4:14 PM PDT   > On August 18, 2005 - 4:09 PM PDT Cosplayer wrote: > --------------------------------- > There was a silent one where the whole audience fainted when they saw his face > You mean this one?
woozy	post #3  on August 18, 2005 - 4:59 PM PDT   > On August 18, 2005 - 4:14 PM PDT IronS wrote: > --------------------------------- > > On August 18, 2005 - 4:09 PM PDT Cosplayer wrote: > > --------------------------------- > > There was a silent one where the whole audience fainted when they saw his face > > > > You mean this one? > --------------------------------- Neat thing about that one is that in the old days they occasionally hand-painted the film to make it appear in color. This was done with the Phantom of the opera and once, I saw it in an art movie house (The Pacific Film Archive) with one hand painted reel. I most admit the hand painted film was a lot more impressive looking than I thought it'd be but ... sheesh! ... can you imagine the work involved?
Cosplayer	post #4  on August 19, 2005 - 1:00 PM PDT   > > You mean this one? > > --------------------------------- Maybe...if that's what he looks like, people in the 30s must have scared easily.
woozy	post #5  on August 19, 2005 - 9:13 PM PDT   > On August 19, 2005 - 1:00 PM PDT Cosplayer wrote: > --------------------------------- > > > You mean this one? > > > --------------------------------- > > Maybe...if that's what he looks like, people in the 30s must have scared easily. > --------------------------------- Yes, they did. The whole movie thing was pretty new back then you know. Come to think of it, this pre-dates the Boris Karloff Frankenstein movie and shocking monsters on stage were never a convention that I know of. How many monster movies *were* there when it came out. Well there was Nosferatu, I suppose. I think part of the shock was that hw *was* human but pretty corpse-like. Well, actually I never heard the story that audiences fainted...
Cosplayer	post #6  on August 20, 2005 - 2:09 PM PDT   Oh, that's so dissapointing!
IronS	post #7  on August 21, 2005 - 7:44 PM PDT   Lon Chaney was famous for torturing himself for a part. According to this site, "For the scene where the girl (Mary Philbin) creeps up behind the phantom and removes his mask--one of the great moments in horror films--Chaney inserted a device in his nose that spread the nostrils and lifted the tip to produce the appearance of a naked skull. He emphasized this effect with protruding false teeth to which were attached small prongs that drew back the corners of his lips. Celluloid discs in his mouth were used to distort his cheekbones most effectively." I think that his not using a mask, that he can contort his face so much, is the scary part.